Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
When to Expect the Next MacBook Pro, iMac, and Other Macs to Launch
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I’m really surprised people still want these locked down laptop + screen iMacs when the Mac Studio exists. You can get them 25% off at least on eBay. And the new monitors out there that are coming out are incredible! I mean the new OLED by ProArt is frickin amazing and so many others (Samsung, LG, Sony) coming out! Apple just can’t keep up with monitor technology. It’s not even close. Has any iMac ever had more than 60hz display even? Even the $5k iMac Pro?
My prediction is based on the persistence of one or two PowerPC Macs into the Intel era… unfortunately I can't find information anywhere, but I coulda sworn you could still buy a new G4 for several years after the transition…
(The real reason why I play around on these forums and read the rumors sites is that I think making predictions about the market to be extremely fun. I wish that there was a system where we could place bets on any of this stuff — when will the last Intel Mac ship, will iPhone 15 have a periscope lens, when will we get an OLED…)
Not necessarily. The first Intel Macs hit the market in January 2006: the iMac and the 15" MacBook Pro. The final G4 Macs were all discontinued in May 2006, i.e. the iBook and the 12" PowerBook G4, in favor of the polycarbonate 13" MacBook. Then the final PowerPC Mac to be discontinued was the PowerMac G5 in August 2006, in favor of the original Mac Pro. It was still a gradual process, but quicker than the current Intel-to-Apple Silicon transition (and Apple was also surprised, because they thought the PowerPC-to-Intel transition would finish in 2007!)
You are correct that the transition was faster.
Apple and IBM were never able to scale the G5 to laptops and even the desktop one was difficult to pruduce in way that made a major leap over the G4.
Plus, the transition to Intel offered Boot Camp, an attractive Developer feature when Microsoft had a bigger role in server space.
The transition to M1 can be slower because for many user the browser and connection is more important than the OS or instruction set of the chip.
I'd like to see:
27" iMac with an M2 Pro (configurable to an M2 Max), starting at $2499
32" iMac Pro with an M2 Max (configurable to an M2 Ultra), starting at $3699
Either a higher-end Mac Mini or lower-tier Mac Studio with an M2 Pro, starting at $1499
27" iMac with an M2 Pro (configurable to an M2 Max), starting at $2499
32" iMac Pro with an M2 Max (configurable to an M2 Ultra), starting at $3699
Either a higher-end Mac Mini or lower-tier Mac Studio with an M2 Pro, starting at $1499
For the PPC->Intel transition Apple gave themselves 2 years to complete the transition and rolled out a competed new line up in about 1.25 years. Well under the 'deadline'.
Mac transition to Intel processors - Wikipedia
It went so fast that yeah there were long term purchase contracts that got caught up in the speed of the transition. ( e.g. school systems buying for two years of new class inflows. value added resellers taking on large stock inventory of XServe so could sell into their channel for 2 years after Apple shut the line down. )
Technically, Apple as blown past the literal deadline of "two years". They are dancing on the phrase used being "about two years". If the next Mac Pro doesn't actually ship in reasonable numbers until 2023 then they would not have hit the deadline ( understandable in the context of a global pandemic. That isn't a 'fail' ) . But also indicative that the pace from the last time is not the pace this time.
The Mac Pro may get some 'overlap' similar to how the rack targeted Intel Mini was extended due to there not being a Mx Pro Mini to cover that use case. ( if Apple shipped a one-slot-wonder Mac Pro , there are lots of Mac Pro users that would not touch it. May have to keep selling until have something closer to an effective replacement. Not a problem in PPC->Intel transition as Intel has more CPU options than Apple was ever going to buy. Apple was only taking a somewhat narrow subset. That is large contributing reason why that transition went so fast. The chips going to basically already existed before they started. When Apple started in 2020 there was no Pro , Max , Ultra or "Extreme". SoC product. )
"complete the transition" meant introducing a complete lineup of Intel Macs. I'm well aware that it got done under schedule, I just believe that they kept a couple of PowerPC models around for special order for a long time, and I believe they will also do so for Intel Macs.
Schools are weird, they're very stubborn about setting a standard and sticking to it. That's why Apple continued to sell sub-retina hard drive driven iMacs for over five years after the retina iMacs were introduced.
Schools are weird, they're very stubborn about setting a standard and sticking to it. That's why Apple continued to sell sub-retina hard drive driven iMacs for over five years after the retina iMacs were introduced.